Project Solaris 2: Hero Rising

by Chris Fox

  "Watch," came a familiar voice to my right.

  I spun to find my mother there. It wasn't the green transparent version I'd discovered in the memory crystal. This version was real, her long hair fluttering in the wind, her alabaster skin even more pale than when I'd seen her last. Her eyes were tired and drawn, but she looked at peace.

  "Mom?" I asked, aware of the quaver in my voice.

  "It's me, David. We don't have much time. You need to see this," she said, pointing at a valley below.

  Several helicopters hovered there, distant enough to look like tiny wasps. The mountain began to buck and heave, but I somehow kept my feet. Then something massive began boring from the floor of the valley. A black tip jutted from the earth, revealing a huge pyramid that climbed skyward as the structure pushed from the earth. That structure was familiar. It strongly resembled the grey men mothership, though this thing was even more massive. It continued to climb, more of its sleek surface emerging from the earth. The helicopters tried to react, but one was too slow. It exploded into fiery debris as the pyramid slammed into it.

  "What am I seeing?" I asked Mom, eyes still fixed on the pyramid.

  "That is a Great Ark, but it isn't why I called you here," Mom said. She pointed at the sky. "Look."

  Time sped up. The sky grew lighter, then darker. Clouds shot by at incredible speed as days passed in the span of seconds. A little military encampment sprung up around the pyramid, complete with dozens of tiny figures moving between buildings. Then time slowed to a more normal flow.

  I studied the sky where Mom was pointing. Veins of fire shot across it, spider-webbing over us as they lit the world like it was day. I knew it was important, that this was what she'd wanted me to see. I recognized it instantly as being the same as the vision I'd had back in Santa Rosa. I was seeing the solar event Osiris had warned us about.

  "Why are you showing me this?" I asked, turning to Mom.

  "Because you need to understand," she said, reaching up to let her fingers brush my cheek. She gave me an affectionate smile. "This is just a piece, David. So much is about to happen. Stay true to yourself, and remember what you see here. It will save your life eventually."

  Chapter 7- Meeting

  The vision was still on my mind when we left to meet with Osiris. Tension was high as Jillian, Summers, Marcus, and I entered Morton's Steakhouse at the edge of San Francisco's Financial District. I'd heard of the place, which ran a couple hundred dollars a plate. High-end execs dropped more than my car payment for a meal, and just as much for the wine. The place had the kind of decor you'd expect: plush red carpet, drapes and low lighting along the walls. The tables were mahogany.

  We threaded past a large wine rack, and I couldn't help but pause. It was like tiny gym lockers, each one with a golden placard. Those placards contained names like Dustin Hoffman, Joe Montana, and Scarlett Johansson. Apparently if the obscenely expensive wine wasn't enough, rich people could store their own vintage for when they were in town.

  We'd dressed to match the decor. I was wearing a black suit, the first garment I'd ever had tailored. Jillian wore a form-fitting--and incredibly distracting--black dress. A platinum necklace with a diamond pendant dangled between her breasts, its glittering shape drawing my eye almost as often as the woman wearing it. Summers had a red dress that matched Jillian's, and Marcus' suit was twin to mine. I felt like we were in a James Bond movie.

  "David," a strong voice called from within the restaurant. I glanced up to see Osiris rising from a table. He wore a black suit very similar to my own, with a deep scarlet tie that reminded me of blood.

  It was only then that I realized something. The only people I saw moving around the restaurant were wait staff. Men and women in white shirts and black slacks, each hurrying about a specific task. All the tables, except for Osiris', were empty. Somehow he'd gotten the most prestigious steak house in San Francisco to close its doors for an evening. Yet another subtle demonstration of just how powerful this man was.

  "Hello, Osiris," I said, approaching. I extended a hand, which Osiris took. His handshake was firm. "You're looking extremely well."

  Osiris smiled. He knew exactly what I was talking about. The last time I'd seen him face-to-face had been in the mothership, right after we'd taken it from the grey men. During the several hours there, Osiris had somehow leeched energy from the ship. When he'd entered, I'd have said he looked around sixty-five. Today he could pass for forty. There were a few grey hairs, but just a sprinkling of salt among pepper. Osiris looked damned good, and that terrified me.

  "Thank you. Please, all of you, be seated." He gestured magnanimously at the plush chairs arranged around the circular table. There were five, which I found interesting. Osiris would have had no idea if I were bringing Kali or even Janaki, yet had someone figured out the proper number of chairs. Creepy bastard.

  I settled into the chair directly across from Osiris, and the others sat as well. Marcus chose to sit right next to Osiris, and glared daggers as he did so. If Osiris noticed or cared, he certainly didn't show it.

  He waited for us to all be seated before speaking again. "Ms. Summers, I'm pleased to see you up and about. I feared the worst after our last encounter with the grey men. It would seem your resilience is even greater than I thought."

  "No thanks to you," Marcus began, but he subsided when Summers rested a hand on his wrist.

  "Thank you, Doctor Usir. It's good to be on my feet again. I don't bear you any ill will for what happened, and I'm glad that you've chosen to turn Project Solaris over to David. I think he's an excellent choice," Summers said, smiling sweetly at Osiris.

  I couldn't help but stare. It was as if Summers' experience with the grey men had siphoned away all the anger, all the rage she'd built up. She looked the same, but behaviorally, she was an entirely different person.

  "So why have you called us here?" Jillian asked, darting a glance at the waitress who silently set a menu in front of her.

  "In good time, my dear. Why don't we order dinner, and then we'll get to business?" he asked, opening his menu.

  I settled on the prime rib, which came with garlic mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese of all things. I also decided on a glass of Cabernet. Drinking wine around Osiris might not be the wisest choice, but damn it if I hadn't earned the right to celebrate a little. Not only were we still alive, but we'd also managed to recover Janaki. Our first victory against the grey men and their flunkies, well first recent victory anyway.

  The next twenty minutes were awkward, but less so than they would have been if Osiris hadn't smoothly guided the conversation. He talked about everything from menu choices to current events, mostly ones none of us cared about. When the food finally arrived, it was served by four wait staff, who quickly set an army of dishes in front of each of us. It smelled heavenly, and when I looked up from the enormous piece of steak in front of me, the staff had already gone. We were alone with Osiris.

  "So," he began, slicing into his own steak with deft motions, "I heard that SDSU's star running back disappeared mysteriously in the middle of a game. No one seems to know how or why she was taken, or by whom. It's eaten up a lot of news cycles today."

  "That's tragic," I replied, popping the first bite of meat into my mouth. It was, without exaggeration, the best thing I'd ever tasted.

  "Did you get to her first?" Osiris asked, uncharacteristically blunt.

  "We did," Jillian supplied, probably because I was shoveling food into my mouth as quickly as I could get the fork up from the plate. "She's safe."

  "It was a near thing," I said, finally coming up for air. Using our powers made us hungry, but I'd have wolfed this down even if I'd just finished another meal. "Dick managed to get to Janaki first. We took her back, and were pursued by grey men. There was a battle. They lost two shuttles, we lost one."

  "That's hardly a victory," Osiris said, frowning. "They have far more material than we do. We cannot afford to lose vessels."

  "We lived," Marcus
bristled, leaning in closer to Osiris. "Barely. We're fighting a goddamn war while you sit around eating steak and drinking wine. Wars have losses, and if it takes having a shuttle blown up for us to survive, then that's what it takes."

  "It was a victory," Summers said, touching Marcus on the hand again. She gave him a supportive smile. "A costly victory to be sure, but it sounds like the team did their best in bad circumstances."

  I set my fork down, meeting Osiris' gaze. "This is the fifth time we've gotten wind of a super. Every time, the grey men beat us there. They're gathering soldiers, while we're left holding the bag. You're not wrong about losing the shuttle, and while I'm happy we finally saved someone, it isn't enough. We need to find out how they're getting there first. We need an edge, or this is going to be a very short war. I suspect you know that, or you wouldn't have requested a face-to-face."

  There was a tense moment of silence while Osiris considered my words. The pause stretched, then he finally spoke.

  "As you've correctly surmised, I invited you here to discuss just that situation," Osiris said, swirling his wine. He sipped before continuing. "I debated a long time over what I'm about to reveal, but given the deteriorating situation with saving supers, I feel we have no other choice. Have you discussed the existence of the Great Arks with your team?"

  "No, I haven't," I replied, sipping my own wine to buy time. I'd learned about the Arks when Jillian, Kali, and I had met Ka in the Nexus, but it was the previous night's vision that came to mind. The entire team was watching me now, only Jillian having any inkling what Osiris was talking about. "For those unfamiliar, there are seven massive structures that predate human existence. One under each continent. Apparently these Arks were created by the grey men's ancestors, millions of years in the past. The grey men's plan, when they returned a few thousand years ago, was to use these Arks to contact their masters."

  "Where are these Arks now?" Marcus asked, setting down his knife. His steak had all but disappeared, though he hadn't touched the potatoes.

  "The same place they've been for the entirety of modern history," Osiris supplied. He reached for the wine bottle, topping off his glass, then doing the same to mine. "They're in a state of hibernation, where they husband their power. This process occurs because the Arks can only charge when the sun produces sufficient energy for them to do so. This energy is cyclic, appearing in roughly thirteen millennia cycles."

  This part was new to me. I understood that the sun was undergoing some sort of change, not how or why.

  "I was born during the beginning of the last such cycle, roughly twenty-two millennia ago." Osiris dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, then dropped it on his now-empty plate. "My tribe discovered one of these Arks, and used the technology we found inside to modify our own DNA. We became...more than human, in much the same way each of you was made greater by the grey men. In the process we changed the course of human history, spreading out to take control of the Great Arks. Empires were founded around each, and the Ark Lords warred upon each other for millennia. Until the sun's energy receded and the Arks were forced into hibernation."

  Everyone was silent for long moments, until Jillian finally spoke. "David and I entered a place called the Nexus, which links all seven Arks together. We met a being there, a hologram like David's mother. It explained that when Osiris and his contemporaries took control of the Arks, they inadvertently screwed the grey men. The grey men can't get into the Arks, because the Arks have been modified to only work for humans."

  "Then what do we care?" Marcus asked, crossing his arms. "If the Arks are hidden away, and the grey men can't use them, then they're of no strategic value in this war."

  "Not yet, though the day fast approaches when the sun will change," Osiris said, shifting his attention to Marcus. "You aren't wrong about their immediate strategic value, though. Right now they have none. I bring them up, because they aren't the only things left behind by the Builders. One of the Arks, the one under Cairo, contained something we called the observatory. It allowed us to observe the sun, and the planets in our solar system. We were considerably less interested in them than people are today, but I vividly remember seeing our sun."

  Marcus raised an eyebrow. "I'm not seeing the value in that either."

  "The value is in how we were observing," Osiris said, giving Marcus a sharp smile. "The Ark of the Cradle was linked to a satellite, I'm sure of it. Back then my people had no context for such a device, and didn't understand how the observatory worked. But in hindsight, I now understand what we were witnessing. The Builders left at least one satellite in orbit, and that satellite almost certainly still exists. If we can find it and use it, I'm willing to bet that we can perform scans on the planet's surface. We can gain an edge over the grey men, and use this satellite to find people before they do."

  Summers finally showed interest, leaning forward in her chair. She stared intently at Osiris. "And you know how to access this satellite? I thought the Arks were in hibernation."

  "Not precisely, no," Osiris admitted with a sigh. He picked up his wine glass, but didn't drink. "In my time, the observatory was accessed through the Ark of the Cradle, which lies somewhere under the Great Pyramids near Cairo. The control matrix lay outside the structure itself, possibly near the Sphinx. That's where you lot come in, David. Project Solaris is uniquely suited to locate the matrix and, once it is found, to seize control of the satellite."

  Chapter 8- Spy

  Three glasses of wine later, the dinner conversation finally started to die. Osiris was the perfect host, recognizing immediately that we were ready for bed. He rose to his feet, smiling as he offered me a hand. "David, it's been been a pleasure. Times are dire, but I've enjoyed this evening immensely. It isn't often I get to relax anymore."

  I accepted his hand, and was more than a little surprised when he pulled me into a hug. I resisted for a moment, tensing up. Maybe it was the wine, but after a moment I returned the hug. I started to disengage, when Osiris whispered. It was barely more than a breath, and I strained to catch it.

  "There is a spy in your midst, David. Check your pocket."

  Osiris released me, moving on to hug Jillian, then clapping Summers on the back like they were old friends. I watched, stupefied as everyone said their goodbyes. I joined the group as we threaded through Morton's, back to the plush coat room by the entrance. I'd heard Osiris correctly, I was positive. He met my gaze, the smile fading slightly as his eyes hardened. Yes, he was definitely serious.

  I was vaguely aware of everyone saying goodbye, and I followed Jillian as she ducked into an alleyway. She waited for everyone to gather, then turned to me. "Ready to head back to the ship?"

  "Yeah," I replied, slipping my hand into the pocket of my blazer. I felt something small and metallic, about the size of my pinkie. I could sense a signal coming from it.

  A wave of cool energy rippled over us, and we were elsewhere. Maybe we were getting used to it, or perhaps Jillian was just getting better at it. The vertigo was less, and I adjusted immediately as I appeared on the teleporter where we'd first entered the grey man craft.

  "I'm going to get some sleep," I said, turning from the others and weaving into the forest of obelisks. My head was fogged from the wine, so I took it slow.

  "I'll go with you," Jillian said, moving up to join me.

  "Night, you two," Marcus called with a wave. Kali and Janaki called their goodbyes as well, and everyone headed off to their little corner of the obelisk forest.

  Jillian walked with me for a little ways before speaking. "David, what the hell did Osiris say to you?"

  "He said we have a spy in our midst," I said, pulling out the metallic object. It was a USB drive. "He slipped this into my pocket."

  "What's on there?" she asked, slowing as we reached our little stone apartment.

  "A video," I said, feeling the data. I closed my eyes for a moment, willing the ship to display the video as a hologram. Telemechanics was such a handy ability.

  Osiris appeare
d, sitting behind the mahogany desk in his office. He leaned forward, then spoke into the camera. "David, this is difficult for me to say, because I understand the burden it places upon you. I waited until I was absolutely certain before relaying my fears. I believe you have a spy in your midst."

  Jillian and I looked at each other, then turned back to watch the recording. Osiris continued. "I've been carefully leaking information about the locations of fictitious supers, then monitoring where those lead. Initially I assumed that the leak was inside Mohn Corp, but no one acted on the false information I disseminated. I've done this four times now, and no one has taken the bait.

  "Each time you attempt to recover a super the grey men or their agents are there first." Osiris' expression darkened. "That's suggestive, but didn't prove there was a spy. So I conducted a final test, and the results are why I've contacted you. I've recovered three more supers using Mohn resources. The grey men weren't sighted in any of those instances. The only time we've encountered them or their agents is when Project Solaris is involved.

  "As you know, I am very old, David," Osiris said, loosening his tie. "I know what treachery smells like. Someone on your team is compromised."

  The recording ended, and all Jillian and I could do was stare at each other.

  Chapter 9- Taking a Trip

  I was the last to arrive at our first official team meeting, having taken the time to get cleaned up after returning to the ship following our dinner with Osiris. Summers and Marcus sat together, of course. Janaki and Kali did too, which made me smile. Kali had even taken off her sunglasses, and was smiling as she whispered something to Janaki. That spoke volumes about how much she'd opened up even in such a short time, as I knew how self-conscious she was about her eyes ever since the grey men had modified her. They were flat black, just like the grey men.